The Greatest Gift
by Earth Queen
Summary: It's Christmas at the Benbow! Jim tries to convince B.E.N. that Santa isn't real, but ends up dressing like the big man. Gifts and heartwarming moments in this one. Please read and review!


**A/N: **This is a one-shot story I've been thinking about since last year, but I never got the chance to really develop it. Now I got it! Caution: the pace may be a little quick, but I guess that's typical for a short story like this one. Tell me what you think and I hope you like it. Enjoy!

**The Greatest Gift**

It had been dropping down in temperature for the past few weeks since autumn. The weather on the planet Montressor mimicked that of the weather of our own planet Earth: it experiences its occasional heat waves, annual monsoons, even its glittering but bitter winter snowfall. Thought it had been winter for a while already, still no snow had fallen…yet.

It was a fine winter's morning…

"Hey, look! Jimmy! Sarah! Morph! Look-look-look! Look outside! Hurry!" B.E.N. cried out as he gazed out the large window in the dining room downstairs, springing up and down joyously where he stood, the hand-woven cerulean scarf around his thin neck flapping as he bounced. He pointed, saying, "It's _beautiful!_ Do ya see it? Do ya?"

Sarah and Jim Hawkins, who were adorned in similar and appropriate attire—Jim in his usual clothing with his black leather jacket including an added dark green scarf, and Sarah in her white and cream shawl and coat—grabbed a glance out the window. Sure enough, they were witnessing just the same event that B.E.N. was. Outside the inn were thousands of tiny, white flakes, floating down from a thick layer of cloud blanketing the once blue sky. The usually dusty earth was now covered in white, powdery ice.

"Well, what do you know?" mused Jim with a gazing smile. "It's—"

"Snowing!" B.E.N. exclaimed with pure glee. He very quickly and enthusiastically approached Jim and Sarah. "Come on! Let's go out and play in it! You know, build snow-aliens, make snow angels, throw big snowballs? Whaddaya say, Jimmy?"

Jim thought about this for a moment. He was pretty hesitant about it. And B.E.N. wouldn't understand why at first glance unless Jim told him. "Well, I don't know…"

"Aww, come on, Jimmy! It's gonna be so much _fun!_"

"I just don't feel like it."

"Oh, why not?"

"Because…"

"Because why?"

"I just don't want to, okay? Maybe some other time." And the 15-year-old walked off to one side of the room where the cooking pot sat.

B.E.N. looked at his new friend dejectedly. "Oh." Truth was…this was B.E.N.'s first seeing of snowfall in almost 120 years. This was also his first seeing of _thick_ snowfall in his whole life and he never ever had the chance to take part in the jubilee of the season.

Jim's problem? His father was rarely ever there to enjoy this time of year with him. Ever since, he's been trying his best to get himself through this feeling.

Sarah came up to her son. "Now Jim," she tried, "I know how you feel about this, trust me. We we're both going through it, but that doesn't mean you can't enjoy now. You have to get your mind off of this hanging onto the past. B.E.N. and Morph are our new family now, and it's time for you let this all go. Understand?"

Jim blew away a lock of his brown hair away from his hanging face in exasperation. He knew his mother was right. And he didn't like it. Nonetheless, he had to deal with it. "All right, Mom," he said finally. "I'll try to enjoy myself."

Sarah smiled and nodded in approval, in secret satisfaction. "Good."

"You're just satisfied 'cause I changed my mind." Now it was Jim's turn to smirk.

Sarah was caught off her guard. "Uh…no, no. Of course, not."

"Oh, come on, Mrs. H.," said B.E.N. teasingly. "You can't fool us."

"Can't fool us! Can't fool us!" Morph chirped in mimic.

"All right. Even though I still have to work to get accepted into the Interstellar Academy, let's go out and play in the snow and have some fun," Jim announced.

"Yes!" B.E.N. cheered as he and Morph rushed happily towards the door. "Oh, this is gonna be _fantastic!_ Eh, not that it isn't already. Heh-heh."

But as soon as they stepped outside, B.E.N. shuddered exaggeratedly and shivered greatly, his metal teeth chattering involuntarily from the bitter cold. "Ah! Wow! J-Jimmy! I-It's v-very, very c-c-_cold_ out here! _Br-r-r-r-r-r-r!_"

"It's snow, B.E.N. What'd you expect?" said Jim.

"Hey, I can see my own breath!"

_He has breath?_ Jim thought to himself, a little bit confused. Then he concluded, _Well, he is a _living_ robot, after all._ "You'll get used to it."

He did.

For a little while, the four of them indulged themselves in the fun of the snow. The first thing they did was throw snowballs at one another. Morph even disguised himself as a snowball and threw himself in the others' faces. Jim gathered up a huge one, called Morph, and launched it at the pink protoplasm. But he dodged and allowed the snowball to hit B.E.N. in the face. Jim laughed out loud as the dazed robot tumbled backward and landed face-up in the snow and sat up, laughing as well. As long as he was on the ground, he lay back and created a snow angel.

Next, Jim, Morph, and Sarah were building a traditional snowman, using rocks and sticks and a top hat. Suddenly, the whole thing began to wiggle for a brief moment. Jim, Sarah, and Morph looked at it suspiciously and went back to their project. But the snowman wiggled a second time. When they looked at it again, they noticed a strange pair of telescopic eyes sticking out the front of the head. One more time it wiggled. This time the whole upper half of the snowman exploded and broke apart into bits and pieces of snow, revealing a surprising, laughing B.E.N. with his arms out wide and the top hat on his head. He then doubled over with laughter and fell over backwards in the snow again. At this, everyone else laughed with him.

ooo

The many roofs of the Benbow Inn were all blanketed in the white snow. The Hawkins family then decided to be decked out for the special season that was fast approaching as the days went by. The Christmas season was upon the planet of Montressor. And soon it was Christmas Eve.

The entire room was decorated with flowing, green tinsel and warm candlelight, including holly wreaths that hung on the front door and on the holo-windows. A tall, exotic tree that resembled a pine sat in one corner of the inn's dining room, lit up with glimmering tinsel and brightly lit candles and a glass and metal, star-shaped tree topper. Already, many colorfully wrapped boxes lay under the tree, waiting to be unwrapped the next day.

A special gathering was taking place here at the inn. Families of all shapes and sizes came here to partake in the festivities, celebrating the bright and magical holiday. Children were grouped together around the tall Christmas tree as the parents chatted and laughed. A dinner was being prepared in the kitchen in the midst of the activities. B.E.N., grinning big with glowing warmth in his heart, was especially in the spirit of it all.

"Isn't this fantastic, Jimmy?" the robot said as Jim came out of the kitchen after checking up on the dinner. "The wreaths, the tinsel, the lovely tree, that warm and fuzzy feeling you get inside?"

"Yeah," Jim agreed with a smile of pleasure. "It kinda is."

"So, what do you want for Christmas, Jimmy?" B.E.N. liked to know.

"Heh. Something I've wanted for a while," Jim replied with a soft chuckle. "This solar surfer called the Windflare 3000. I've tried to save up for it, but that treasure I brought back was meant to rebuild the Benbow." Jim gave a sigh of slight remorse. "Oh, well. Maybe next year or something. What do you want, B.E.N.?"

B.E.N.'s mind went blank in realization. "Come to think of it, I have no idea." Then he remembered. "Well, I _have_ always been fond of that new checkers game I saw in the window of that store. You know, one of those old classics? I've always wanted one of those."

"Huh."

"You know something? This is my very first real Christmas in my whole 120 years of life."

"Really?"

"Yeah! I first heard about it from my creator's kids."

"Your creator had kids?"

"Sure, he did! They told me _everything_ about it. The decorations, the candles, the tree, and all the pretty presents under it that get opened on Christmas Morning. I tell ya, it's one of my favorite days of the year. There's just something…_magical_ about it, ya know?"

"Yeah."

"Oh! They even told me how everyone gets their presents at night when we're all asleep on Christmas Eve."

"What's that?"

"There's this big, old guy in a red suit and white beard. Yeah. He rides in this big sleigh that's pulled by eight flying reindeer, carrying a _huge_ bag of presents that he gives to all the good people of the galaxy in one night. And he's got a workshop where lots of these little people make the presents for him to deliver. And he's got a list of who's been naughty or nice. Or course, anyone who's been naughty he gives a lump of coal and—"

Jim was hearing all this. The very first thing B.E.N. had said when he'd begun explaining brought back memories of what he himself had heard a long time ago. He cut the robot off. "Uh, B.E.N.? You're talking about Santa Claus."

"_Santa Claus!_ _That's_ what his name was!" B.E.N. recognized, remembering now, laughing. "How could I have forgotten?"

Aware of the children close by, Jim lowered his voice and brought B.E.N. a little closer. "Listen, B.E.N. Mom told me about Santa when I was a kid…and I stopped believing in him when I was 8. And I can tell you right now that there's no such thing."

A sensation of shock struck B.E.N. as his eyes shot wide and he gasped. "No such _thing!?_" he cried out. At his words, the children halted what they were doing and turned to look at him. B.E.N. thought quickly for a cover story and smiled wide. "As…_ghosts!_ Yes! No such things as ghosts! Whew! And all this time I'd been scared of 'em!" he laughed loudly while at the same time Jim was taking B.E.N. into the kitchen. The children went right back to their playtime.

In the kitchen, B.E.N. wiped an arm across what would be his forehead. "Whew. You had me goin' there for a second, Jimmy. What would the kids think if they'd heard, huh? Heh-heh. 'No such thing as Santa.' That's a good one."

Jim rolled his eyes. He could already see that trying to convince this old robot wouldn't be an easy task. "I wasn't making a joke, B.E.N."

Suddenly, B.E.N. felt a sting of heartbreak from what Jim had told him just now. "Huh?"

"Come on, think about it. How could an old guy be able to deliver gifts to _everyone_ in the galaxy all in one night unless his reindeer had wings and flew faster than ten ships?"

"Actually," B.E.N. corrected in a matter-of-factly manner, "it's their _antlers_ that helps them fly at top speed." Then he stopped and thought. "_Or_ maybe he stops time so he can enjoy all the cookies and milk."

"I don't get you, B.E.N. You're 120 years old, and you actually believe that stuff?"

"_Sure_, I do. My creator's kids would never lie to me. They even showed me a picture of them on Santa's lap when they were telling him what they wanted for Christmas. You should've seen them. They looked so _adorable!_"

"But that was just—eh, never mind. The point is he's not real."

B.E.N. kept up his grin. "_Course_, he is! They got a _picture_ of him!"

Jim exhaled in frustration. "He's—aargh! B.E.N., don't you even get it?"

B.E.N.'s smile dropped and his eyes grew sad. "Well…um…I…"

"Face it, B.E.N. Santa Claus doesn't exist."

"But…"

"Come on. You'd better get back to the dinner. Besides…the oven's smoking," Jim said as he left the kitchen.

B.E.N. turned on his heel and saw that it was true. "_Aaahh! _Oh! Oh! Hot stuff! Hot stuff! Clear the room!" he cried out in panic and made a hasty rush to save the dinner from burning. The smoke blew up in his face when he opened the oven. Fortunately, he was able to save the dinner in time before it was burned to a crisp. He breathed a sigh of relief.

The idea of there not being such a thing as Santa Claus began to sink in. B.E.N. had been a believer all his life. Why did Jim have to go and tell him there was no such thing? "Could Jimmy be right? Is there really…no such thing? Nah, it _can't_ be! Could it?"

Out in the dining room, Jim felt a pair of familiar eyes stare at him sternly and stopped in his tracks. Knowing it was his mother, he winced and turned to face her. "So, what did you talk about?" Sarah asked needlessly; she knew anyway.

"Oh, nothing," Jim tried to cover up, but it didn't work with Sarah.

"You told him that Santa wasn't real, didn't you?"

"Yeah, what about it? Mom, he's 120 years old. You'd think he'd have grown up and faced the facts way before this century."

"Jim, you know he has never grown up." Sarah stopped and realized something, correcting herself. "Well, figuratively, not literally because he's a robot. But…you understand what I'm saying, right? If he still believes in Santa Claus, that shouldn't be your problem. You should already know by now that B.E.N. has always been…sort of a child at heart. It's not a bad thing. Just because you don't believe doesn't mean he has to stop believing."

Jim tried to consider this. He was tired of her always being right, and he sighed in exasperation. "Yeah…"

"Why don't you at least apologize with a gift? Cheer him up?"

Slowly, Jim began to smile from an idea that crept into his mind. Suddenly, he was struck by inspiration. "You know, Mom? That's just what I'm gonna do." And he whispered in Sarah's ear, asking her something, not wanting anyone else to hear.

"Sure," Sarah replied. "It's should be upstairs somewhere in the closet."

"Thanks, Mom. I owe you one."

With that, Jim made a mad dash up to the second floor and dug through the hallway closet until he found what he was searching for.

ooo

Sarah glanced at a wall clock sometime after Jim had rushed upstairs for something. The clock read 8:15pm. It had been almost half an hour since then. The snowy night outside hadn't altered a bit, but it felt like a long while. Where was Jim? She figured that now was the time to put one of the dining chairs next to the Christmas tree. Jim had let her know that he'd be taking that seat. But he never told her why, though.

Just then, B.E.N., who was serving a few guests, came up to Sarah as she put out the chair. Curiosity drew him to what she was doing, and he asked her, "Hey, Mrs. H. Say, um, what happened to Jimmy? Who's sitting there?"

"Oh, just someone I'm expecting," she answered very casually. "He should be here any minute. I think you'd like to meet him."

B.E.N. beamed at the sound of that and grew excited from the anticipation. "Really? Oh! Who is he? Who is he?"

"You'll see. As for Jim…I don't know where he is. I sent him upstairs to think about what he'd said to you, but I haven't seen him since."

"Oh, I hope he'll be down here again soon! He's gonna miss…well, whoever's coming!"

"I hope so, too."

There was a hard knock on the front door and Sarah went over and opened it. Freezing wind gusted through from outside. "Oh, Delbert. Amelia. Come right in."

"G-good even, S-Sarah," Doppler shivered while bundled up as best as possible. He and his newly wedded wife stepping in out of the cold. "Dear, it's _bitter_ out there!"

"Yes, we must use your fireplace, Mrs. Hawkins," Amelia added.

"Oh, of course! It's right over there," Sarah said, pointing. The new Doppler couple thanked her and made their way over to the mantle to warm up from the snow.

B.E.N. had been watching the door, waiting for the expected guest to come. It was when he saw the Dopplers that his heart sank a bit, but he was still happy to see the married couple.

Just outside, a large, shadowed, coated figure approached the front door, fighting through the snow and wind. The figure seemed to be carrying a hefty sack over its shoulder. It had to be sure not to be seen, so it never looked through the window to see inside. Finally, the figure knocked on the door.

Inside, Sarah said out loud, "That must be him."

B.E.N. was overcome with pure ecstasy. "Yes! Yes! Yes! Oh, I just can't _wait_ to see him! Wonder what he looks like. Oh, who cares! I can barely _contain_ myself! Who is he? Who is he? Who is he?!" He watched with a huge grin on his face as Sarah opened the door and revealed who it was. The figure at the door was a man…tall, pot-bellied, with a white beard, dressed in a red suit and hat with white trimming, boots, belt, carrying a big bag that seemed to be stuffed with a number of boxes. B.E.N.'s jaw dropped wide open at the person he was gazing at. He almost wasn't able to believe what he was seeing. He gasped as he smiled ear to ear. "Is it…? Could it…? Am I dreaming?"

The man cleared his throat before speaking and let out a jolly, deep-voiced "Ho, ho, ho! Merry Christmas, everyone!"

B.E.N.'s knees felt weak as he tried to balance himself, standing there, staring. He gasped again. He could hardly speak. "S-s-s…Santa? Santa Claus? In the flesh?" He kept on staring while the man took his seat in the chair by the tree. All around him the children gathered, eager to sit on his lap and tell him what they wanted for Christmas. "Is it really him? Sarah! Mrs. H.! Look! It's-it's-it's-it's-it's _Santa!_"

Sarah came up next to the gleeful, little robot. "Well, what do you know? It's the real Santa."

"Oh, this is fantastic! It _is_ him! I _knew_ he was real! Where's Jimmy? He's missing him!" B.E.N. began to rush upstairs to fetch Jim, but Sarah stopped him.

"Uh, wait, B.E.N. Why don't we just wait for Jim? If he misses him, he misses him. Well, what are you waiting for? Go on. Ask Santa what you want for Christmas."

"Oh, I sure will!" B.E.N. agreed as he came back downstairs to join the kids in the fun. On by one, a child asked Santa what they wanted, and with every child that asked him he gave them a gift. Soon enough, B.E.N. was up next. He promptly took a seat on Santa's knee. And despite his height, B.E.N. was lightweight, so he wasn't putting a strain on Santa's knee as he normally would if he were completely human. The young-hearted robot was more than ready to talk with Santa. "It is _such_ an honor to meet you, Santa. May I call you Santa? Heh-heh, funny story. My buddy Jimmy told me that you weren't real! And to think. I almost didn't believe in you. Can you believe it? Heh-heh"

"Ho, ho, well, I am as real as could be," the big man replied. "So tell me, B.E.N. What do you want for Christmas?"

"Well, I've had my eye on this classic checkers game in a market window for a while now and I thought, 'Wouldn't it be great if Jimmy and I played that game together?' But, heh-heh…here's another funny thing: I kinda changed my mind about it. It's not for me anymore, mind you. It's for Jimmy. I guess what I wanna give him is…well, belief in you again."

Santa played with his beard in thought. Behind the chair, a little toddler was playing with the cotton ball on the tip of his hat. "Hmmm…well, that's a mighty big wish there, but it's very thoughtful of you, B.E.N.," Santa mused. "And I'm afraid Jim is going to have to decide that for himself."

B.E.N. grew a little sad. "Oh."

"But don't worry. I'm sure he'll start believing in me again."

"Really? How?"

"Because _you_ believe in me." Santa tapped a gentle, gloved finger at B.E.N.'s chest.

The big smile on B.E.N.'s face returned. "Aww, gee, thanks, Santa. You're the best." The toddler was still playing with Santa's hat, pulling on it. "Ya know, you remind me a lot of—"

Finally, the hat fell off…including the beard, which was now seen as a clear fake. Everyone, especially B.E.N. and the children, gasped at what they all saw. "J…Jimmy?" B.E.N. queried, starting to feel let down. But he was more surprised than let down. "What are ya doing dressed up as Santa Clause?"

Jim felt in the wrong for what he had done, and he sighed. "I'm sorry, B.E.N. I just wanted to make up for what I said to you. Mom made feel guilty, so I came up with this little get-up. Just for you."

"Just for me?"

"Yeah. And the kids, too. I had to make them happy, too. But I thought this whole thing would be my Christmas gift to you."

Once again, the smile returned on B.E.N.'s face. He was touched by the generous thought. "Awww, Jimmy. You're the best pal a robot could ask for! This was the best Christmas present I ever got! Well, it was the _only_ one I ever got, but _anyway_…" he admitted. "I just don't know how to _thank_ you!" And he gave Jim a big, bear hug.

"I think your hugs are thanks enough," Jim laughed. Then they both laughed. In an instant, even the children and their parents were all laughing.

In the midst of it all, a young boy decided to peek around the Christmas tree. After a bit of searching, the boy came upon an elongated object wrapped in green paper and a red ribbon. The size of it took the boy by surprise as he gazed, astonished. He felt the need to yell out, "Wow! This is the biggest present I ever saw!"

The boy's enticing words drew everyone's attention to the gift. Sarah got a look at the front of the attached tag. "Jim, it's for you."

"Wow, Jimmy! Look at this!" B.E.N. exclaimed as he came around and saw the gift.

"Yeah," Jim mused with a smile. "Can I open it, Mom?"

"Of course," Sarah answered.

Jim immediately began tearing apart the wrapping paper from the gift, excited to see what it was. When all of the wrapping was torn away, he received a full view of what lay before him now. He picked it up and gawked at it with awe. "I can't believe it! I've been wanting this! The Windflare 3000!" The slick, new solar surfer had many different features on it, including huge tail fins and powerful thrusters on the sides as well as the back. The solar sail was as majestic as a dragon's wing, painted with realistic-looking flames and touched up with a custom flag. "How cool is this?!"

"Wow." B.E.N. couldn't help gaping at the thing. "Hey, look, Jimmy! Read the tag! What's it say?"

"It says, 'To James Hawkins: You may not believe in me anymore, but I am grateful to you for keeping the spirit alive tonight, especially for B.E.N., the best friend you may ever have. Yours truly, Mr. S. Claus.' Mr. S. Claus?" he repeated, confused.

"Hey, you don't think…?"

Just outside, they could pick up the crystal, jingling sounds of many sleigh bells through the cold winds of night. The Christmas spirit that was once snuffed out for a period of time was rekindled in the hearts of everyone at the Benbow Inn. The hope of the holidays was renewed.

Once again, even Jim believed. Thanks to B.E.N., who _always_ believed.

"Heh. Hey, B.E.N.," said a smirking Jim as he put his arm around the robot. "Thanks for the belief. It's the best gift I ever got."

B.E.N. gasped, beaming hopefully, his eyes filled with emotion. "You mean…?"

"Yeah. Merry Christmas, B.E.N."

"Merry Christmas, Jimmy!" And B.E.N. gave his friend another big hug.

The End

Hope you liked that short story. Tell me what you think!

Happy Holidays!


End file.
